Tracking a Superstorm

Oct. 29, 2012 – A day before landfall, Sandy intensified into a Category 2 superstorm nearly 1,000 miles wide.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Center for Climate Simulation
Video and images courtesy of NASA/GSFC/William Putman

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A NASA computer model simulates the astonishing track and forceful winds of Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy pummeled the East Coast late in 2012’s Atlantic hurricane season, causing 159 deaths and $70 billion in damages. Days before landfall, forecasts of its trajectory were still being made. Some computer models showed that a trough in the jet stream would kick the monster storm away from land and out to sea. Among the earliest to predict its true course was NASA’s GEOS-5 global atmosphere model. The model works by dividing Earth’s atmosphere into a virtual grid of stacked boxes. A supercomputer then solves mathematical equations inside each box to create a weather forecast predicting Sandy’s structure, path and other traits. The NASA model not only produced an accurate track of Sandy, but also captured fine-scale details of the storm’s changing intensity and winds. Watch the video to see it for yourself.

For more information, please visit:
gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/atmosphericassim/tracking_hur...

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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